Deril
Also known as The Derilliol Confederation (Confederation) Founding Date:XX-XX-XXXX Deril is a far northern country known for great stoneworking and architecture. They formed from small villages into a larger confederation and while that was some time ago, distant parts of the nation feature different cultural distinctions. They are an expansionist nation who value knowledge and invention. Their government focuses around their main religion, lead by the Chosen, a prophet and speaker to and for the gods. Deril has a very strict caste system, with Aukars being the dominant class but sworn to devotion to the Chosen. The nation is called Deril while the people are called Derilliol. The government is specifically referred to as the Derilliol Confederation, despite the term Confederation being obsolete. They are currently having border and resource conflicts with the Uenari, their on and off trade partner. They are also seeking to expand into the valley of the Firelords in search of resources and to understand fire and to expand to the east into the unclaimed plains for more farmland. History Origins Originally residents of the mountains and surrounding lakes, villages were constructed due to the reliable farmland(natural terraces and unnatural), and most importantly, near a water source. They formed a tighter knit community and militia due to the threats from other tribes in the area and help guide them to forming a central leadership among villages. This first ruler was very similar to a lord of a fiefdom and while he was charged with protection had very little actual ability to do anything and didn't own any land. Basically a sheriff, who organized deputies throughout the villages and those deputies organized others in their village. More and more villages wished to be a part of this system. Slowly, this sheriff is given a bit more power in other aspects, first with a house built by supporters and a meeting place where people could place concerns to the sheriff. While originally in their own hometown, the option to move into a more central location that was better for all villages presented itself and also allowed the sheriff to feel less like they favored one village over another. Central to other village, a long abandoned ruin of a fortress sat in the mountains facing the shore. It used to be a large city from before the Darkness, but most of the city was gone, with only a few indications of structure - things carved into the mountain imply a fortress with large bridge like structures running out from it and acting like raised highways or sentry points. (Think visually like aqueducts) This initial confederation focused not just on defending themselves from other villagers or the tribesmen to the south who ventured north, but actively expanded and took over some of these villages, adding them to their group. In the desire to rebuild the city as their own place of safety, they began mining, sending prisoners who didn’t join willingly to the mines. Over time, this became more and more central as they expanded their knowledge and tools of stoneworking, which didn’t stop with the city. More and more updates and additions continue to be made as well as local lords building their own castles and stone towns. One individual, Jallin Chosen, was elected as ruler during a particularly rough time, when fear the oppressing winter was high and while they were in conflict with the woodland inhabitants to the south. They played off of this fear, claiming to have spoken with the moon goddess and was Chosen by the Lady Moon to lead them to safety. As a magic user, she pulled support from the magic users by giving them a central structure under which to train and master their skills, using them as her miracle workers to convince the people that she was indeed very powerful. These individuals grew to worship her for helping them train and they brought in more followers as students, slowly converting the populace by word of mouth as well. Jallin had very strong views that the world was predetermined, that she was meant to be Chosen just as a farmer was meant to be a farmer and that all of these roles were essential. The class system had been loosely in place for a while, but these prevalent views pervaded and made it more strict. Jallin also believed that her soul was chosen, not just her body and that when she died and a new ruler was elected, that individual was not only predetermined, but would inherit her soul as a form of reincarnation. In this sense, anyone could be the Chosen, they just might not know it yet. Eventually, the Chosen became the prevalent title for the religious leader of XXX and figurehead ruler of the nation. They maintained a lot of power over the magic user’s school as its central organizer and also maintained the power of the armies from previous decades. The parliamentary council continues to elect the Chosen. Famous/infamous people/figures Jallin Chosen Jallin was the very first Chosen of Deril. She was originally the elected ruler during a time of spiking conflict with the Uenari, perhaps the first recorded physical conflict between the two groups, though they had been very wary of each other for a long time. The Uenari’s distrust of outsiders and the Derilliol’s fear of invasion from any outside force lead them to be very cautious of the tribes people. Though it is now believed that an expedition of Deril minors accidentally stumbled too close to one of their villages, hence inciting the attack by the tribesmen, at the time, this was written off as an aggressive move by the Uenari, instead of a defensive one. However, the opinion still stands that this act of violence, the death of innocent miners, was unjust and lead to a string of skirmishes and further conflict. Jallin, the Sheriff of the time, used this to bolster the military, enacting the first order of conscription, which has now become a law and right of the Chosen to issue. The power of the Sheriff was consolidated, while at the same time, the Parliament came into being, a more official council than before. Later into the conflict, she reported visions of the gods speaking to her, explaining what she needed to do. The founding of the Shapellion was one of these required actions, as well as a re-envisioning of the gods and a higher commitment to them by the people. The story of course grows from there. Jalline was a Misery magic user. Her last name is unknown, as upon being elected Chosen, it was wiped from the records. It is unknown if Jallin was even her real name before then, as it is a very holy name. This tradition is continued by each Chosen being given a new, holy name. The Frostgates Info... <{Make a page of famous figure} Politics/Social structure {Descriptions. Charts may be necessary. Link to pages for special terms.} Social Structure They have a very strict class system where it is almost impossible for an individual to change their standing. Marrying down, while not common in practice,can happen, while marrying up is even less common in practice, as only Acolytes can keep their titles no matter who they marry. Marrying below your own class means leaving your class to join the lower one. Acolytes - the religious class - This is the highest social class and includes the religious teachers and positions, including the Chosen as well as all of their attendants and trained Misery magic users. All trained practitioners are also servants to the Chosen, though this does not prevent them from living their own lives. As all priests are trained magic users, they are also included in this class. Acolytes can marry into any other class without losing their title, as it is based on their use of magic, not their birth. Their children will be born into the lowest class of the couple. Children of two Acolytes are Noble Class - The highest class includes those who are in charge of each hold and their family. Prominent individuals in this class and the religious class are members of the ruling parliament that see to the day to day matters of the people. Worker Class - Derilliol value hard work, which is why the merchant class is less respected and much smaller than the working class. Workers tend to have more sway with the upper classes due to their large numbers. This includes farmers, masons, craftsman, paid servants, and more. In some cases, even slaves. Those who work with stone or architects are more highly prized. Merchant Class - Merchants are often slightly better off than those of the working class, but are not as well respected. Miners - There are a great number of mines in their mountains, however, most miners are prisoners, either domestic or prisoners of war, who serve their sentences in the mines. Conditions are often poor and many are sentenced for life, which has lead to a rise in families and children being raised in the mines. Typically, these children are taken away and adopted by others of society. Whatever the bottom class is. People who don’t work anywhere, I guess? Slavery Cultures considered “lessor” (which is most other cultures) or any Derilliol who enter into it willingly. Legal system Government Structure Deril’s government is a combination of monarchy and theocracy? or something with a parliament and a theocracy? It is lead by the Chosen, an individual elected by the Parliament who is also a prophet. The Chosen has final say in how the military forces are used, though in cases of declaring war, the Parliament can veto the decision to declare war. The Chosen can suggest religious practices, but cannot put anything into law without first appealing to Parliament. The Chosen can veto any laws that Parliament wishes to enact. The Chosen is considered the lord/lady of the city precinct and is a member of Parliament. This frustrates some of the lords. Parliament consists of the lords of each precinct and they are accountable to the government. The Parliament sees to city planning, taxes, all laws and the consequences to these laws and the enforcement of this. Parliament cannot declare war but can veto it and make appeals for war to the Chosen. While they can write laws, these laws must be approved by the Chosen as aligned with religion. Each precinct judges and punishes crimes within themselves using a nation wide set of rules. Typically, judgement is conducted by the lord/lady themselves and trials must consist of a trial of faith, though they may also include a hearing. Laws Very strict rules of interaction between classes. Each class has their own sub laws within themselves? The sentence to any crime is some amount of time in the mines. There is no death sentences, only a life sentence mining. Overall, crime on a large scale is very low, but there are plenty of thieves and small time gangs. There aren standard guardsmen, but there are also trained mages/priests that handle the everyday incursions against the law. There are very strict rules and regulations, with the common penalty being to serve time in the mines. Foreign Relations They export vegetables and a variety of fish, mostly to nearby villages that have not swore allegiance? They are kind of far from everyone… Generally, Deril is very accepting of other cultures as they are, since they believe everyone is predestined to do everything in life. They are initially very diplomatic and are willing to negotiate with others as long as those others are willing back. They would rather fold other cultures into their empire that outright destroy them, but their large military proves they are not opposed to conquest. Firelords Deril is only more recently reaching out from their mountain range. Due to the active ash volcanoes and magma in the valley, Deril is very interested in gaining access to the mountains for determining what resources are there and mining those resources. Their initial expeditions ran aground with the Firelords, either being killed or enslaved. They tried negotiating with the group, but after failed attempts, they pulled back for a while. The Firelords continue to be a great unknown except for the fact that they use a terrifyingly wonderful light and heat combination that the Deril deeply desire to understand. They probably still have attempts at covert exploration of the valley, but I suspect mostly these are unsuccessful and likely not funded by the government. Overall view of the Firelords is great dislike. Despite their curiosity in the abilities they have, the Deril are not a very outgoing group and more worry that the Firelords will invade. They have some border disputes as they are expanding and this encourages their military to be larger, despite the government not actually needing it to be larger in a time of no war. Uenari The Deril have been in fluctuating conflict with the Uenari. These forest dwelling tribes were initially a source of fear and they had constant conflicts with their borders. While the Uenari would never leave the forest, the Derilliol were constantly afraid of the unknown and more savage tribes to their south, the government using this threat to consolidate power. There is a long standing hatred for the tribes people in Deril; any tribesmen captured in skirmishes or found traveling in the nation become slaves. There are occasional times of peace, where both sides will engage in wary trade, but ultimately, there is little love for the tribespeople, as the Derilliol believe them to be uneducated, violent, scheming animals of the forest. They have no desire to “civil” the Uenari, as the point isn’t to build them up, but to either push them aside or conquer and incorporate them into the empire. Border skirmishes have become more and more common as the Deriolliol Confederation seeks to expand its borders to the south and the east, claiming more farmland and resources for their growing empire. They would like to incorporate the Uenari into their empire, with a few cultural sacrifices, of course. Durok Fiefdoms TODO Warfare They are craftsmen by trade, particularly deft with stoneworking and armor, leading to powerful, bulky warriors as their main force. The mountains contain sturdy mounts as well, creatures powerful enough to carry an armored individual into battle. They have few full time soldiers, and these people serve in the city and national guard when they are not at war. Conscription is how they bulk up their army in times of need, while the largest focus is on the deceptive power of their magic users, students trained at the Shappellion. Expeditions to the volcanic regions to the west are less and less common due to the increased organization and territorialism of the Firelords. These expeditions often face raids from the Firelords and do not always return. While not a threat at the moment, Parliament grows more and more concerned for the bewildering capabilities of these ex-prisoners and are desperate to see what resources the valley contains. While the idea of invasion is not far from the lips of many in Parliament, it is limited to privately funded expeditions for now. To keep the public pacified, the loss of these expeditions is often announced to the the public as raids by the Firelords, using the undiplomatic savages to the west as a tool to spike hatred and fear in the hearts of the people. There is also, however, a special group of the Chosen's magic users, called Chosen Acolytes, that are above and outside the law. They are a very small elite group, with no more than 10-15 members at a time. Typically, they are very close to the Chosen and will often conduct missions, both public and private, for them. While they pledge their life and soul to serving, they do have a lot of personal freedom. They are the most patriotic of countrymen though may have conflicting ideals and are selected by the Chosen themself. Customs General behavior Values Expansionist: They thrive off of expanding their nation, typically though exploration and resource seeking, determining what is useful to them. They have military that isn’t constantly large, but can be easily drawn up from conscription. Taking over a country by force is still a bit out of their mind set, but it would not be out of the picture. Knowledge: They prize learning, especially in the ways of magic and the laws of the world. Exploration is very common and typically those who wish to explore either become field researchers through magic or train as military scouts to. Interpersonal TODO Courting Marriage is typically between and man and a women. While the wider population is not wholly against same sex relationships, it is encouraged to lengthen one’s family line. Bloodlines are very important, both through class standing and because of the use of magic. It is typically the man who courts the woman, attending her, meeting her family, presenting her gifts and the like to win her approval and her hand in marriage. Education Public schools are beginning to appear, mostly at higher levels. Young children are taught their parents profession and work as apprentices, inheriting the family business. Gifted individuals, once they grow old enough, are sent to communal learning centers similar to colleges or academies. Granted, many of the lower class cannot afford to send children who could be working away, so it is mostly upper-class children profiting from this. Shappellion The Shappellion is the school of magic organized by the first Chosen. It resides on the island nearest Farv, just visible across the ocean from the capital. It is the hub of learning, but not a central point of power, as only students and teachers are required to stay there. Once an individual has joined the ranks of the Acolytes, they either stay and teach(rare), venture out to conduct magical/religious research(common), become a priest(uncommon) or serve the Chosen in various ways, typically though religious service,military service, (common). The desire of this last is to become one of the Chosen’s. Priests typically travel the nation running religious services and providing special services such as heating, xxx, and xxx… Most established towns and neighborhoods require a collection of priests to cook vegetables and grains. All who wish to practice pain magic must join the Shappellion and enter into the Chosen’s service in some way, as listed above. This also means that upon graduation, they must select a Path to devote themselves to. Art Ice is very often used in art for sculptures, permanent and temporary. Music and performance arts are very important to their culture. They have various instruments, strings, reeds drums and more. Song is also very important, and these arts often incorporated into worship of the Chosen. Celebrations happen very frequently in all classes, with three major festivals throughout the year. The festival of the moon is a week long event spent in praise to the Chosen for their protection and respect. The festival of shadows is at the end of the year and is a celebration of the past year, but it is celebrated with a sort of, no rules two days of feasting and squander in the upper classes. At this time, they also spend ridiculous amounts of resources on the lower classes, out of obligation and sometimes crazed drunken fooling around. All magic is also permitted, as well as the guards are given time off with the understanding that anything that happens on these days do not actually happen. Stoneworking and architecture art considered artistic and valuable. Resources Currency Deril greatly values building materials and metals. The Durok Fiefdoms, which are slowly becoming their greatest trading partner, are attempting to integrate their use of petrified chips as the main currency. Food The capital city is on the ocean, so there is a large consumption of fish. As farmers, they grow a very hardy form of grain as well as potato/corn like vegetables as one of their main food sources. Protein through fish and sometimes other meet is very high in their diet. Without a widespread way to cook food, they typically eat their meat and fish raw. What heat can be summoned through magic is used to cook vegetables. Magical products used {Description/ list, link to animal/plant involved} Products {List/describe relationship link to main page} Architecture Post and Lintel architecture was the first form of stone working in Deril, used for basic structures of worship, tombs, and other holy sites. Wood was fairly common, but stone working had fallen behind until the villages organized into a loose confederation. With this slow centralization of power, posts became more refined pillars, not just supports but art forms and the lintels began wider but lighter roofs or more flowing archways. Stone working is a prized skill as well, but this art is still relatively new, with archways and flying buttresses and large walls and grand highways being new innovations. They favor very minimalist yet commanding architecture and sharp edged shapes. Farv is a great example of this, this it's straight tiered outer walls, but curving infrastructure. They like the natural sweeping of the land and try to follow that shape while being much more forceful about it. Farv The capitol city is Farv, often called the Shining Walls. It is a combination of fortress and city, built on old ruins with solid foundations and has lots of receding tiers built up the mountain side. Those in the heart of the city are very few and vertical, while those on the outer edges are larger and more suited for farmland. The feet of the city extend out toward the water, like old docks when the water might have been much higher. Strange walkways extend from the upper levels, like raised highways supported by large columns. They are currently being constructed as part of the original look of the city, as indicated by a vision from the Chosen. They do not yet extend very far across the county, but they do make imposing and safe pathways. They are patrolled by few guards but are busy with construction crews. There is a lot of the lower ruins that have yet to be restored or removed to build new ones. These are in poor condition and often have hardy plants growing out of them. Clothing description The upper and middle classes have access to finer clothing and the trend is to wear multiple thin layers, partially for the cold, but also to display a lot of collars and dress trains. Women and some men as well wear lots of feathers, flowers and other bits in there hair, typically using materials to keep their hair sticking up and often incorporating outlandish headgear and frills. Shoes are very common, with higher ranks wearing taller shoes. The religious class actually wears very simple clothing. It has a lot of the same stiff and imposing motifs as the other classes clothing, but is much less floaty and elaborate. Most wear little to no clothing on their upper bodies, depending on gender. Vests are very common, as Miseyr magic users like to have their hands and arms free. When sleeves are worn, they are slit and draping so that when the hand is raised, the sleeves will fall away. Religion Chromatism is the prevalent religion based on the images and some ancient decaying texts found in the mountain ruins where the capital city now stands. It was practiced even before the Chosen became a central figure, though now most individuals have conformed to that variation of Chromatism called Jallinian Chromatism . There are six classical Paths of XXX that follow a specific god or mythological figure which govern separate realms of the world. Individuals may chose to dedicate themselves to these gods, typically forsaking certain rights or abilities in favor of championing this god. There are also three Jallian Paths, considered to be newer paths, or re-constructions or older paths that were lost or not used. They are not based on any texts, but came about as later additions. No gods have a particular moral leaning and are open to the interpretation, They are often many things to many people, but the the gods of the Faceless and the Senseless tend to attract more unsavory characters than upstanding. Each of these gods are depicted as strange beings. The classical six are based on images from ancient texts, while the Faceless and Senseless have forms inspired by the others. The Soulless has no form, physical or otherwise. The Chosen is both their figurehead ruler and their prophet. This individual can be anyone, as it is considered that the soul of the Chosen passes from one person to another and that the individual elected as the new Chosen after the previous ones death is considered predetermined, and therefore a sort of reincarnation of the Chosen’s soul. Elected by the parliamentary council, the Chosen is typically selected from among their ranks, though in certain circumstances, it has been know to be someone of the lower class, should some miracle sway parliament’s opinion. Religious services can occur any day, though typically take place somewhere dark. Worshippers gather together to praise the gods and the Chosen who conveys their wishes. Values Predestination - Everyone is where they are supposed to be and working where they should be working. Those who want to go outside of the system are strictly punished Miracles - Everything happens for a reason, there is no coincidence. However, even though one may be predestined, that end is still very much unknown and there are many who wonder if previous actions can affect this outcome in later lives. Miracles, while they made be foretold to happen, after often seen as a way to change one’s fate, known or unknown, for the better. LL There are some words in Deril that are considered holy, or godly, as it were. The inclusion of “ll” as a central part of a word, specifically nouns or names, is a holy indicator. Because Dovasi are mortal, they tend to stray away from naming their children with “ll” at the center, though many names come close to holy by having it at the beginning or end of a name. All of the Chosen are renamed and given holy names in this manner, such as Jallin. The “ll” is balanced on both sides. This is considered holy because of the simplicity and identification with “l” being a post or architectural structure and “ll” being a group of these in support of one cause. History of religion For the more recent changes since Chosen Jallin, see history above. Deities Classical Paths # Path of the Sightless ## Realm: love, beauty, fire ## Significant Color: White # Path of the Soundless ## Realm: family, fertility, water ## Significant Color: Green # Path of the Wordless ## Realm: war, metal, air ## Significant Color: Orange # Path of the Tasteless ## Realm: luxury, celebration, tricks ## Significant Color: Red # Path of the Scentless ## Realm: nature, beasts, learning ## Significant Color: Yellow # Path of Touchless ## Realm: building, earth, moon ## Significant Color: Blue Jallinian Paths # Path of the Faceless ## Realm: death, sun ## Significant Color: Purple # Path of the Senseless ## Realm: chaos, bad luck ## Significant Color: Gray # Path of the Soulless ## Realm: unknown, secrets ## Significant Color: None ## This Path is unique from the others in that it is not a path anyone who follows XXX takes part in. Rather, this Path contains all of those who do not follow Chromatism. They are all watched over and part of the domain of the Soulless. Holidays Magic Auka is generally used for religious practices and worship, but is also a major part of their military, as the Chosen serves both functions. They value magic, but insist that users be trained, which means they must go through the Chosen’s school and along with their training, serve the Chosen. Many of these individuals become priests. Krauja is considered inferior to pain magic, partly because the Chosen prefers to keep a commodity on pain magic users and also because the addictive qualities of Primal magic. It’s use isn’t banned, but materials to use it are either limited and/or very expensive. Parliament enforces this because they dislike the idea of the worker class becoming addicted to or overdosing on these materials. They prefer to funnel all magic users through the Shapellion. Geography Location on the map. Borders can be seen here. Geographic features Northern mountain range and the small ocean to the south, including the islands in the ocean. The temperature is very cold and often near freezing, with the northern parts of the ocean forming sheets of ice. Many of the nearby mountains have natural and ancient man made terraces with fertile soil. The islands are a bit less cold and are used as scout and guard posts. The island closest to the capital city is nearly barren, with only a few small flying creatures or lapine like things. This is where the Shapellion is located.